How Liverpool forced Saudi clubs into submission over Salah deal ...Middle East

It was a worrying distraction that threatened to ruin Liverpool‘s greatest Premier League season, but those who have seen Mohamed Salah’s contract over the line, and those who tried to turn his head, were never in doubt how the saga would end.

One down, one to go. That is how the Liverpool hierarchy see it. Virgil van Dijk will almost certainly put pen to paper next, but Trent Alexander-Arnold is seen as a lost cause.

Two out of three represents an acceptable renewal return for sporting director Richard Hughes, thrown in at the deep end after starting his new job last summer. All three players have won it all at Anfield and have an army of marquee suitors chasing their tails.

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Despite the social media keyboard warriors rounding on Hughes on a weekly basis, as contract stalemates surrounding three of the club’s greatest ever players dragged on, internally there was never any panic.

The i Paper has been told a mooted pay cut was never on the table. Nor was Salah ever going to hold the club to ransom. From the off, there was always the intention of reaching an agreement, that both parties knew they simply had to achieve.

Saudi Arabia’s Pro League clubs, several sources told The i Paper, gave up long ago. Salah had been tempted by the Middle Eastern riches when Saudi clubs first came in for the Egyptian in 2023, with Liverpool rebuffing an £150m offer for their star man.

The Saudis promised to really make the Egyptian King Arab royalty, a Muslim player at the top of his game competing in an Arab country.

There was hope that, given Salah’s accomplishments in England, he was ready to take the Saudi riches and Arab adulation. The 32-year-old, still in remarkable condition for his age, still has unfinished business in England.

A pursuit of individual accolades has helped settle Salah’s mind. Given his incredible goalscoring exploits this season, Salah is closing on the upper echelons of the Premier League’s all-time top goalscoring charts, sitting fifth in the rankings.

Premier League all-time top goalscorers

What’s more, his uptick in form this season puts him well in the running to pick up the Ballon d’Or for the first time. If not this season, then next. A move to Saudi now, where global audiences pale in comparison to the all-conquering Premier League, would put pay to that.

Contrary to social media masses, Hughes deserves a great deal of credit in helping get this most crucial contract over the line.

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The i Paper has been told there has never been any panic or souring of relations in the entire process.

Salah was quite public in his wish to see an end to the saga at several junctures throughout the season, and while Hughes would have wanted it all signed and sealed sooner in an ideal world, negotiations with Salah’s representative, Ramy Abbas Issa, remained cordial and patient.

Announcing it before the pending title party has always been the plan, as the club want nothing to overshadow something supporters have waited 35 years for, after being denied a proper celebration due to Covid back in 2020.

Hughes and his team can now focus on bringing in some additional support for Salah up front. Accusations of Liverpool being a one-man team have some substance this season, given just how many points have been garnered as a result of the Egyptian’s goals and assists.

That summer transfer business will be infinitely easier with a totem of attacking supremacy to build around, one primed and ready to take home more individual trophies to cram in alongside his team ones.

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